Blackstone River (left) and The Old Slater Mill (right)
The City of Pawtucket
Pawtucket is a community located in northeastern Rhode Island and is an urban environment. This town is divided into two zip codes, 02860 and 02861. There is an apparent difference between the two districts, with the eastern side (02861) being generally wealthier than the western side (02860). Making the divide even more apparent between the two districts, there also lies a significant contrast in their statistics in various areas, such as funding, expenditures, and overall assessment. Most of the following information is according to data from 2008. However, the "Sources of Funding" section is based on data from the year 2009. Pawtucket is very diverse when looking at the differences between its two districts.
School Demographics
As far as the schools that students in Pawtucket attend, there is an equal distribution of students attending private, public, and charter schools. However, that is where many of the similarities stop. The percentage of students who are not eligible for reduce priced lunch is 35% in Pawtucket versus 62% in Rhode Island.This reflects an overall poorer population. Ethnic Background is also a point of diversity. The number of African American students (23% in Pawtucket versus 8.9% in Rhode Island). There are also great disparities in other ethnicities, including White (45% vs. 68.9%), and Hispanic (29% vs. 18.4%). There are 11% of students in "gifted" programs versus 3.6% in Rhode Island as a whole, while the number of kids receiving English as a second language (ESL) services is relatively similar. Non participants are 89% in Pawtucket compared to 95% in Rhode Island. Special Education demographics are comparable with Rhode Islands statistics. Eighty-four percent of students in Pawtucket are non-participants compared with Rhode Islands 82%. Of the students that do participate, 4% are self contained versus Rhode Islands 5.7%, while the general education participants hover around 12% in both Pawtucket in Rhode Island. Families of students in Pawtucket are more likely to move when compared with the rest of RI. The dropout rate is twice that of Rhode Island's at 22% vs. 11%. The suspension rate is also significantly higher than the rest of Rhode Islands in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools with the exception of Special Education students, which is only 23.1% vs 59.8%. Teachers in Pawtucket more often have emergency certification (3% versus Rhode Islands 1%), while the percentage of classes taught by teachers not highly qualified is 0% compared to Rhode Islands 4%[1] .
Assessment
Overall, there is a higher percentage of children in Pawtucket who are proficient than partially proficient or below proficient, based on testing scores. However, the numbers for children who are proficient with distinction is particallylow and not very impressive in comparison to the state and nation. In relation to their SAT scores, Pawtucket scored below both the state and national averages for math, reading and writing. The NECAP's are a mandatory assessment that juniors in high school take. Between the two districts, Shea scored considerably lower than Tolman. These two schools, however, are lower than Rhode Island as a whole[2] .
Performance
The performance of students in schools of Pawtucket were compared to a sample of students in Rhode Island with similar demographics. For the ten elementary schools, the math scores varied. For reading and writing, there was an extreme variation, with many Pawtucket elementary schools either below the comparison group, or many schools above the comparison group. There are a total of three middle schools. For math there are no schools that are below the comparison group. Reading and writing are all evenly distributed among the groups, therefore, there is an equal amount of schools above, equal to, and above the comparison group. There are only two high schools in Pawtucket. For math skills and problem solving, the scores varied. For reading and writing, they are all either equal to or below the comparison group. Overall, there are still three schools that are identified as needing improvement[3] .
Accountability
The student population of Pawtucket was broken up into target groups based on ethnicity in order to compare test scores as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB)[4] . In the Pawtucket elementary schools, most target groups either met or exceeded the standard for their Math and English Language Arts (ELA) testing scores. However, the 'Students with Disabilities' group did not meet the standard for either Math or ELA. Their scores for math were 55.9 compared to the standard for proficiency of 68.1 and the ELA score was 57.3 compared to the standard of 80.1[5] . Another group that did not meet the standard was the 'English Language Learners' target group, this group did not meet the standard for both of the categories; its math score was a 66.5 and the ELA was 68.6, compared to the 68.1 and 80.1 respectively [6] The 'Economically Disadvantaged' target group met the standard for math, but did not meet it for the ELA portion with a score of only 1 point below the standard. In the Middle School, again most target groups exceeded or met the standard. However, it was the same two target groups (students with disabilities and English language learners) who did not meet the standard again. The math scores for these two groups were close to the standard, but the ELA scores were much lower than the target score[7] . The 'Economically Disadvantaged' target group improved and met both of the standards instead of just one. In high school it was much the same within the target groups, the same two target groups did not meet the standards while all of the others did. However, the highest scoring target groups throughout the whole district were the 'White', 'African American', and the 'Economically Disadvantaged' (in the elementary school level the 'Asian' target group was the highest, but in the middle and high school levels, this target group had less than 45 participants)[8] . Overall, in all three of the testing ages, the averages of all the students met or exceeded the standard for both the Math and ELA testing.
Sources of Funding
There are significant differences in funding between Pawtucket and the rest of Rhode Island. Much more of the funding comes from the state level (63% of funds) than in Rhode Island overall (36%). Consequently, much less comes from the local level (26% compared to 57%). Federal funding is present in both Pawtucket and Rhode Island, but is the least significant of the three at 11% versus Rhode Island's 7%[9] .
Expenditures
The rates of expenditures in Pawtucket are closely related to those of the state of Rhode Island in some aspects. The total amount of expenditures for the state is about $1,600 more than the expenditures for Pawtucket alone. For most aspects of the expenditures in Pawtucket, the rates are lower than that of the state. In all programs for the state and city, the amount expended in the city of Pawtucket always appeared less than that of the state of Rhode Island in 2008.
For educational programs specifically, the amount of money expended primarily for the district is less than that of the state in almost all cases. In the state of Rhode Island, 22,569 children are receiving cash assistance out 225,690. Out of the 16,719 children in Pawtucket, about 2,675 are receiving cash assistance. This is a larger percentage than the total number of children in Rhode Island receiving cash assistance. The general education expenditure amount, along with the Title I and Career and Technical Education, are higher in the state than the city. However, the Special Education and English Language Learners amount is higher in Pawtucket than the entire state. Only for Career and Technical Education is there and extreme difference between the two amounts. In the state, $7,931 was expended while in the city, only $727 was expended. This could be caused by a possible lack of existence of a career and technical institute for students in Pawtucket. Through this data, Pawtucket's expenditures can be seen as average compared with the state, even though some areas make an exception to that [6] .
Pawtucket District Description
Blackstone River (left) and The Old Slater Mill (right)
The City of Pawtucket
Pawtucket is a community located in northeastern Rhode Island and is an urban environment. This town is divided into two zip codes, 02860 and 02861. There is an apparent difference between the two districts, with the eastern side (02861) being generally wealthier than the western side (02860). Making the divide even more apparent between the two districts, there also lies a significant contrast in their statistics in various areas, such as funding, expenditures, and overall assessment. Most of the following information is according to data from 2008. However, the "Sources of Funding" section is based on data from the year 2009. Pawtucket is very diverse when looking at the differences between its two districts.School Demographics
As far as the schools that students in Pawtucket attend, there is an equal distribution of students attending private, public, and charter schools. However, that is where many of the similarities stop. The percentage of students who are not eligible for reduce priced lunch is 35% in Pawtucket versus 62% in Rhode Island. This reflects an overall poorer population. Ethnic Background is also a point of diversity. The number of African American students (23% in Pawtucket versus 8.9% in Rhode Island). There are also great disparities in other ethnicities, including White (45% vs. 68.9%), and Hispanic (29% vs. 18.4%). There are 11% of students in "gifted" programs versus 3.6% in Rhode Island as a whole, while the number of kids receiving English as a second language (ESL) services is relatively similar. Non participants are 89% in Pawtucket compared to 95% in Rhode Island. Special Education demographics are comparable with Rhode Islands statistics. Eighty-four percent of students in Pawtucket are non-participants compared with Rhode Islands 82%. Of the students that do participate, 4% are self contained versus Rhode Islands 5.7%, while the general education participants hover around 12% in both Pawtucket in Rhode Island. Families of students in Pawtucket are more likely to move when compared with the rest of RI. The dropout rate is twice that of Rhode Island's at 22% vs. 11%. The suspension rate is also significantly higher than the rest of Rhode Islands in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools with the exception of Special Education students, which is only 23.1% vs 59.8%. Teachers in Pawtucket more often have emergency certification (3% versus Rhode Islands 1%), while the percentage of classes taught by teachers not highly qualified is 0% compared to Rhode Islands 4%[1] .Assessment
Overall, there is a higher percentage of children in Pawtucket who are proficient than partially proficient or below proficient, based on testing scores. However, the numbers for children who are proficient with distinction is partically low and not very impressive in comparison to the state and nation. In relation to their SAT scores, Pawtucket scored below both the state and national averages for math, reading and writing. The NECAP's are a mandatory assessment that juniors in high school take. Between the two districts, Shea scored considerably lower than Tolman. These two schools, however, are lower than Rhode Island as a whole[2] .Performance
The performance of students in schools of Pawtucket were compared to a sample of students in Rhode Island with similar demographics. For the ten elementary schools, the math scores varied. For reading and writing, there was an extreme variation, with many Pawtucket elementary schools either below the comparison group, or many schools above the comparison group. There are a total of three middle schools. For math there are no schools that are below the comparison group. Reading and writing are all evenly distributed among the groups, therefore, there is an equal amount of schools above, equal to, and above the comparison group. There are only two high schools in Pawtucket. For math skills and problem solving, the scores varied. For reading and writing, they are all either equal to or below the comparison group. Overall, there are still three schools that are identified as needing improvement[3] .Accountability
The student population of Pawtucket was broken up into target groups based on ethnicity in order to compare test scores as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB)[4] . In the Pawtucket elementary schools, most target groups either met or exceeded the standard for their Math and English Language Arts (ELA) testing scores. However, the 'Students with Disabilities' group did not meet the standard for either Math or ELA. Their scores for math were 55.9 compared to the standard for proficiency of 68.1 and the ELA score was 57.3 compared to the standard of 80.1[5] . Another group that did not meet the standard was the 'English Language Learners' target group, this group did not meet the standard for both of the categories; its math score was a 66.5 and the ELA was 68.6, compared to the 68.1 and 80.1 respectively [6] The 'Economically Disadvantaged' target group met the standard for math, but did not meet it for the ELA portion with a score of only 1 point below the standard. In the Middle School, again most target groups exceeded or met the standard. However, it was the same two target groups (students with disabilities and English language learners) who did not meet the standard again. The math scores for these two groups were close to the standard, but the ELA scores were much lower than the target score[7] . The 'Economically Disadvantaged' target group improved and met both of the standards instead of just one. In high school it was much the same within the target groups, the same two target groups did not meet the standards while all of the others did. However, the highest scoring target groups throughout the whole district were the 'White', 'African American', and the 'Economically Disadvantaged' (in the elementary school level the 'Asian' target group was the highest, but in the middle and high school levels, this target group had less than 45 participants)[8] . Overall, in all three of the testing ages, the averages of all the students met or exceeded the standard for both the Math and ELA testing.Sources of Funding
There are significant differences in funding between Pawtucket and the rest of Rhode Island. Much more of the funding comes from the state level (63% of funds) than in Rhode Island overall (36%). Consequently, much less comes from the local level (26% compared to 57%). Federal funding is present in both Pawtucket and Rhode Island, but is the least significant of the three at 11% versus Rhode Island's 7%[9] .Expenditures
The rates of expenditures in Pawtucket are closely related to those of the state of Rhode Island in some aspects. The total amount of expenditures for the state is about $1,600 more than the expenditures for Pawtucket alone. For most aspects of the expenditures in Pawtucket, the rates are lower than that of the state. In all programs for the state and city, the amount expended in the city of Pawtucket always appeared less than that of the state of Rhode Island in 2008.For educational programs specifically, the amount of money expended primarily for the district is less than that of the state in almost all cases. In the state of Rhode Island, 22,569 children are receiving cash assistance out 225,690. Out of the 16,719 children in Pawtucket, about 2,675 are receiving cash assistance. This is a larger percentage than the total number of children in Rhode Island receiving cash assistance. The general education expenditure amount, along with the Title I and Career and Technical Education, are higher in the state than the city. However, the Special Education and English Language Learners amount is higher in Pawtucket than the entire state. Only for Career and Technical Education is there and extreme difference between the two amounts. In the state, $7,931 was expended while in the city, only $727 was expended. This could be caused by a possible lack of existence of a career and technical institute for students in Pawtucket. Through this data, Pawtucket's expenditures can be seen as average compared with the state, even though some areas make an exception to that [6] .
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